Why she started them late

Jenean Fear’s son had gone to preschool, already could read and met the state’s age requirement, but she decided the 5-year-old with the fall birthday could use a little more time before he started kindergarten.

She made the same decision two years later for her younger boy.

Both were academically ready, but Fear felt they would benefit from another year to develop socially and emotionally.

Her son Trevor did a year of transitional kindergarten at Marvin Elementary in Allied Gardens and this year is in a regular kindergarten class. Travis, now a second grader, spent an extra year in preschool.

Kindergarten can be rigorous, with students being expected to read, write and do simple arithmetic by the end of the year. There’s no nap time and little time for play — things Fear remembers from her own kindergarten experience.

“I felt giving them that extra year gave them that extra year of maturity,” Fear said. “With the academics being so tough these days, I feel like having that edge of confidence is so important. It all just meshes together.”

By waiting, both her sons will be 18 when they graduate from high school.

“I looked forward into the future. That extra year, being a little bit older couldn’t possibly hurt them,” she said.

Marvin has offered a junior or transitional kindergarten class since 2007. Principal E. Jay Derwae said parents and teachers agreed there was a need for a class to cater to younger kindergartners who sometimes aren’t mature enough or ready for the rigors of kindergarten.

Parents seek out the program, which offers similar curriculum to a regular kindergarten class but at a slower pace.

“These parents are right on; they know their kids better than we do and they know they need those two years,” Derwae said.

It was billed as the “gift of time.”

California’s plan was to slowly raise the starting age of students in kindergarten while creating a new grade for those children left ineligible because of their fall birthdays.

The get-ready year of schooling — called transitional kindergarten — would have effectively made kindergarten a two-year process for children who turn 5 in September, October and November. Supporters said the change, which brings California in line with the most common state age requirement, would reduce the number of children held back or flagged for special education assistance by having them be older and better prepared for the academic demands of school.

But with a looming budget deficit, the state may take back the gift, potentially leaving school districts in San Diego County and elsewhere in the lurch.

The new age cutoff remains: Students who turn 5 on or before Nov. 1 would be eligible to start kindergarten, instead of the current Dec. 2. Over three years, the state will roll back the cutoff to Sept. 1. But Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed budget calls for eliminating the requirement that schools provide the transitional instruction — saving about $224 million in 2012-13, $448 million in 2013-14 and $672 million in 2014-15.

Moving the date back three months by 2014 will affect an estimated 120,000 students in the state.

“Given the state’s fiscal condition, the administration believes this is not the time to embark on a program expansion of this magnitude at this cost,” said H.D. Palmer, a spokesman with the state Department of Finance.

State Sen. Joe Simitian, the author of the Kindergarten Readiness Act, has vowed to fight to keep transitional kindergarten. He said the state, by turning away its youngest students without recourse, will be asking parents and families to dig in their pockets to provide for an extra year of child care or preschool, or to postpone work during the worst economic slump in modern history.

“We are saying you have to wait another year to come to school and you are on your own in the meantime. I just think that’s a non-starter, frankly,” said Simitian, D-Palo Alto.

“After years of bad news, transitional kindergarten is one of the few bright spots on the horizon for public education… and who wants to rain on that parade? It is hard to fathom.”

Kimbrough Elementary School teacher Teresa Sotelo raises her hands to get her class' attention to get them to clean up. Kimbrough has a pilot transitional kindergarten program.
— John Gastaldo

+Read Caption

Kimbrough Elementary School teacher Teresa Sotelo raises her hands to get her class' attention to get them to clean up. Kimbrough has a pilot transitional kindergarten program.
— John Gastaldo

Education advocates also say the governor’s proposal could result in teachers losing their jobs as the number of students in kindergarten are reduced.

Kindergarten isn’t mandatory in California and parents have always had the option of deciding when starting school was right for their children. Some parents on their own opt to wait until their child is older — even if they meet the birthday deadline — because they don’t think their 4- or 5-year-old is socially, academically or emotionally ready, a practice some school officials refer to as “redshirting.”

School districts and parents in San Diego County as well as around the state have been left in a difficult position as they prepare for next year. There’s a great deal of uncertainty because state lawmakers have yet to take action on Brown’s proposal, meaning the program as of today remains a mandate.

“There would have to be a law change for this not to be funded because not only is the program on the books as a statute but the funding is part of the continuous appropriation. It remains a part of the funding formula,” Simitian said.

After months of preparation, many districts are putting plans on hold. Last week, the San Francisco Unified School District pulled the plug on its program entirely, saying there was too much uncertainty in the state budget to move forward with it.

State officials point out that districts still have the option of offering the program if they want, but that seems unlikely at a time when many are strapped for cash.

“It’s a mess,” said Eric Lehew, an executive director in the Poway Unified School District. “We are in a very confused state in this transitional kindergarten thing, We are looking for some guidance.”

Poway estimates it has about 180 students born between Nov. 2 and Dec. 2 — those students too young to meet the kindergarten age cutoff but who would be eligible for transitional kindergarten if it were offered. Lehew said the cost of educating those students would be about $900,000.

San Diego Unified estimates it has about 800 children with November birthdays who would be eligible for transitional kindergarten in the fall. If it opened up the program to students with September and October birthdays as well, it estimates about 2,400 would be eligible.

La Mesa-Spring Valley Superintendent Brian Marshall said his district is building its budget without transitional kindergarten, but could revive the program if it is funded by the state. “If on March 1, the state said, ‘transitional kindergarten is in, that was a bit mistake, oops,’ we would jump on the bandwagon and go with it,” Marshall said.

Sylvia Gonzalez, director of early childhood education for San Diego Unified, suggests parents with children turning 5 in November make alternative arrangements for the fall, such as locking in spots in preschools, so they won’t be left without options if transitional kindergarten doesn’t get funded.

“What I’m going to recommend to principals is to be open with their parents,” Gonzalez said.

San Diego Unified offered transitional kinder classes at eight sites this year but the district will not be including the program in its proposed budget.

“Based on what we know now, it is not funded so we are not planning to continue it,” said Bernie Rhinerson, the district’s chief of staff.

Because current law still requires the program, it is unclear whether districts will have to seek a waiver from the state mandate or if legislation will be adopted that will lift that requirement.

However, the uncertainty over transitional kindergarten doesn’t mean all early kindergarten programs will disappear.

For 10 years, Poway has offered the Poway Extended Primary Program or PEPP as a type of bridge between preschool and kindergarten for students who are old enough to attend kindergarten but whose parents decide they need an extra year of social development and school readiness skills.

That program has grown to 26 classes with just over 300 student enrolled. Lehew said the only issue raised by the state’s budget proposal is whether children with November birthdays will be able to enroll in it. It still will be open those who turn 5 by Nov. 1.

Some districts, including La Mesa-Spring Valley, offer parents the option of enrolling their children in early admission kindergarten programs that give students about a half-year of school readiness instruction starting in mid-January, prior to taking a full year of kindergarten.

Under La Mesa-Spring Valley’s program, students who turn 5 by March are able to enroll in that class. The state doesn’t provide school districts with funding, known as average daily attendance or ADA, until the student turns 5, so the district carries the cost of those 4-year-old students until their birthdays.

Marvin Elementary in Allied Gardens has offered a two-year kindergarten program since 2007, a program that consistently has a waiting list.

“The biggest difference between our classes is that in the junior kindergarten class we expose them to everything, but it is not mastery,” said teacher Trisha Livingstone. “That’s our favorite saying to the parents — they are going to be exposed to everything but they are not expected to master it.”

Principal E. Jay Derwae said Marvin’s program will be offered next year, but won’t be open to students who turn 5 after Nov. 1 unless state funding is available. “We will have to stick with the guidelines the way they are,” he said.

For his part, Simitian said he’s disappointed in how the governor’s office is presenting the issue in its budget proposal since the program is really a “no-cost item.”

“We take the savings from the youngsters who are not going to be attending kindergarten and turn around and use the same savings — no more — to teach the same kids in transitional kindergarten,” he said. “Because those savings ripple through the system for a decade and a half, we could fund this at no additional cost for the next decade and a half.”